POLITICS AND ECONOMICS
Australia
Ute gate stories
Malcolm Turnbull censured after email turns out to be fake – Adelaide Advertiser
Ute affair backfires on shaken Turnbull – Sydney Morning Herald.
New emails show other car dealers helped too – Sydney Morning Herald reports on the release by Treasurer Wayne Swan of a fresh batch of emails last night that showed other car dealers seeking finance were given a similar level of attention as John Grant, the Ipswich dealer who gave Kevin Rudd a free ute.
Turnbull wounded as Utegate email exposed as fake – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Fake email trips Turnbull – Melbourne Age
Police investigate mild-mannered bureaucrat – Godwin Grech, writes Michelle Grattan in the Melbourne Age, must be the least likely character to be at the centre of this extraordinary affair. On all accounts the 42-year-old public servant who has worked in the Prime Minister’s Department, as well as Treasury, is diligent, loyal, punctilious about his work.
OzCar official Godwin Grech worked for Joe Hockey – was his departmental liason officer a decade ago – The Australian
Unsettled outlook, and some running for cover – in politics, half the battle turns on winning the contest to define the battleground. By the day’s close, the ground had shifted decisively in the Government’s favour – Melbourne Age
Emails fly as Swan fights back – Melbourne Age
Ute-gate fake email backfires on Malcolm Turnbull – Melbourne Herald Sun
Former Turnbull adviser Paul Lindwall denies ute-gate email connection – Melbourne Herald Sun
Malcolm Turnbull’s fake email nightmare as Liberals’ attack blunted – The Australian
New Swan messages ‘special treatment’ – Last night, the Treasurer’s office released a swag of emails concerning the cases of two other dealers, which Swan said proved those dealers had received “as much, if not more attention from the Treasury” than Grant did – The Australian
Fake email turns the tables on embattled Malcolm Turnbull – Brisbane Courier Mail
Following the tracks in Utegate – how events have unfolded – Brisbane Courier Mail
Ute gate opinion
Leader who cried wolf gets caught by the crowd – says Peter Hartcher in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Shock: car salesman gives PM a reference – Annabel Crabb in the Sydney Morning Herald .
Trap for novices: beware of geeks bearing gifts – Phillip Coorey in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Close the gate on the beaut ute – Gerard Henderson in the Sydney Morning Herald believes that despite all the current excitement, it seems likely that this controversy will pass without any political fatalities.
Fake or not, perception is all in politics – Joo-cheong Tham in the Melbourne Age questions why were the Treasurer and his staff so intimately involved in this application by Brisbane’s John Grant motors.
Spycatcher star flounders in world of bent truths – Tony Wright in the Melbourne Age
Hunt leaves Turnbull and Swan stranded in woods – Michelle Grattan in the Melbourne Age.
Tackling the tax system – Tim Colebatch in the Melbourne Age sees utegate showing one of the sad truths about Australia: the smaller the scandal, the bigger the coverage it gets. He argues that if we want to focus on improprieties, let’s focus on something big, not a car dealer who ended up with nothing.
Wayne Swan has questions to answer but Malcolm Turnbull under fire – Michel Harvey in the Melbourne Herald Sun
Coalition deals itself mortal wound – concludes Dennis Shanahan in The Australian. The Prime Minister is now in the clear, the Treasurer will survive and the Leader of the Opposition’s character and political judgment are being seriously questioned. The Coalition has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory – an overreaching has led to a disastrous shortfall.
PM forges victory message – Christian Kerr in The Australian on the media capturing tactics of the day
Rudd’s steel as Turnbull brings spoon to a knife fight – Malcolm Farr in the Sydney Daily Telegraph
Australian politics a game of cheap point scoring – Paul Syvret writes in the Brisbane Courier Mail that Kevin Rudd has friends. Hold the front page. Surely this is the single greatest revelation to emerge so far from the so-called utegate affair.
Ute gate editorials
Forged email unravels the Opposition’s case – The episode lends weight to the view that the Opposition Leader is impatient, impetuous and prone to lapses of judgment – Melbourne Age
Turnbull stunned by runaway ute – though Mr Turnbull emerges diminished from this affair, the Government does not get off scot-free either – Sydney Morning Herald
Business assistance must be hands off – The fake email has tarnished the opposition’s case. Labor’s interventionist approach will leave it open, as opposition Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey said last week, to claims of being “under enormous pressure to do specific deals for favoured friends” – The Australian
In the middle of maelstrom – Turnbull needs to review his methods of establishing whether evidence before him is accurate. But that does not let the Government off the hook when it comes to other evidence, which is known to be genuine – Sydney Daily Telegraph
Wayne Swan must learn from ute debacle – says Brisbane Courier Mail
Smoking gun has backfired – Melbourne Herald Sun
Regulations
Cabinet warned on licence removals – pre-purchase property inspectors, kit-home suppliers, lift mechanics and floor finishers and coverers will no longer be required to be licensed in NSW under legislation being debated. Sydney Morning Herald.
Pre-selections
MP’s departure for Canberra a catalyst for Greens purge – the departure of the Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon to Canberra may coincide with the departure of as many as three of the party’s four MLCs at the end of their terms – Sydney Morning Herald.
Elections
Cleary likely to take Brunswick off Labor – former Federal independent MP Phil Cleary considering a tilt at the marginal seat at next year’s state election – Melbourne Age
Nathan Rees heading for a hiding – NSW Newspoll figures show Labor well behind – The Australian
Parliamentary children
Call for changes to allow children in the Senate chamber – Sydney Morning Herald.
Inquiry order as MP Allison Ritchie resigns – Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett is under pressure to adopt protocols for MPs employing family members after ordering an inquiry into the conduct of an MP who hired four – The Australian
Terrorism
Terrorism watchdog too little: Greens – On Thursday the Government plans to introduce legislation for an independent reviewer of terrorism laws, to be known as a national security legislation monitor. The Greens say the Rudd Government’s plan for a watchdog does not go far enough and they want Parliament to immediately remove controversial provisions – Sydney Morning Herald
Haneef lesson learnt as rules quietly reformed – Immigration rules changed to stop visa cancellations on speculative character grounds – Melbourne Age
Interest rates
Commonwealth Bank under pressure to lift home loan rates – Brisbane Courier Mail
Taxation
Libs to support alcopop tax increase – to avoid providing a double dissolution trigger – Sydney Morning Herald.
Coalition backs alcopops tax rise – Melbourne Age
Planning
Metro project puts Sydney town square on the fast track – Sydney Morning Herald
Leadership
We’re a team, but who will be leader – A meeting of Opposition front-bench members has failed to resolve the party’s festering leadership issue – Adelaide Advertiser
Opinion
Dead cat of NSW Labor won’t bounce – Imre Salusinszky in The Australian analyses the latest Newspoll numbers
Probity imperilled by spending spree – says Michael Stutchbury in The Australian
Rolling out the infrastructure barrel – Malcolm Colless in The Australian writes that the political spin around big ticket infrastructure projects is now the cornerstone of a reborn Labor Inc.
Elsewhere
Iran
Iran police fire tear gas in zero-tolerance approach to protest – London Times
BUSINESS
Returns on super to hit record low – Melbourne Age
Three surveys show SA confident in financial future – Adelaide Advertiser
Anglo rejects Xstrata merger offer – Financial Times of London
Recession worries rattle world markets – Financial Times of London
ENVIRONMENT
Heritage changes give owners more power – Councils in NSW will have to “thoroughly consider” the views of owners before a property is heritage listed under amendments to the Heritage Act – Sydney Morning Herald.
Sales of 4WDs drive up market – Sydney Morning Herald
Garrett to approve big polluters – a greenhouse trigger would be proposed by a panel of five independent experts in a discussion paper next week as part of an official review of Australia’s national environmental laws says the Sydney Morning Herald. The proposal would automatically refer large projects which emit high amounts of carbon for an environmental assessment by the office of the Environment Minister, Peter Garrett.
NSW Cabinet backs off from plan to hunt in national park – Sydney Morning Herald.
Canberra deals third body blow to solar industry – the Government yesterday called an immediate halt to a program that covered up to half the cost of setting up clean power sources in areas not connected to the electricity grid – Melbourne Age
Coalition stalls vote on emissions laws – The Australian
MEDIA
Disney-owned ESPN wins Premier League rights – The Walt Disney-owned sports broadcaster has snapped up two packages of Premier League rights, formerly owned by Setanta – London Times
LIFE
Fluoridation
Minister gets death threat – opponents of fluoridation have hand-delivered a death threat to a Victorian State Government minister and threatened Geelong’s water supply – Melbourne Age
Save the whales
US critical of whaling plan – Australia’s attempt to end Japanese scientific whaling has come under attack, with criticism even coming from its ally, the United States – Melbourne Age
Law and order
Police boss set for battle over boozing – Queensland’s Police Commissioner is on a collision course with the police union over plans to introduce harsher penalties for officers caught drink driving – Brisbane Courier Mail
Water security bill soars – Victorian taxpayers are spending millions to protect staff and property at two major water projects – Melbourne Herald Sun
Grandparents
Helpful parents draw line at minding grandkids – Sydney Morning Herald
Smoking
Queensland slow to stub out smoking displays – Brisbane Courier Mail
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